The present invention relates to mechanisms which move in synchronization with an audio source. More specifically, the invention relates to toys having movable parts which move in synchronization with a voice or other sound from the toys.
Mechanisms which move in synchronization with an audio source are fascinating to both adults and children alike. For example, in the Country Bear Jamboree exhibit at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, a group of bears and other characters move their eyelids, lips and limbs as they perform songs or speak. A vast number of people have been entertained by this particular exhibit.
For the further enjoyment of consumers, it is highly desirable to provide portable mechanisms, such as toy characters, which move in synchronization with an audio source. In addition, it is desirable to provide such characters with improved drive mechanisms for providing the movement, improved circuitry and mechanisms for synchronization of the movement to the audio source, and in which the audio and movements may be readily varied for greater diversity. In addition, it is also desirable to provide the synchronization of more than one mechanism, i.e. multiple toys or characters, to an audio source. In this way, animated characters may carry on conversations and otherwise interact to thereby add realism to their activities. Therefore, a need exists for toys and other mechanisms in which movement is synchronized to an audio source and which have these and other advantageous characteristics.